Font ResizeThe question has been posed repeatedly, and the answer was the focus of State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell's speech Thursday, kicking off the California School Boards Association's annual conference, held in San Francisco's expansive Moscone Convention Center.
Nearly 4,000 school board members from large and small districts around the state planned to attend the three-day event.
"We actually asked what is the actual cost to educate a student," O'Connell told the crowd. "I hope that (the answer) really drives the discussions in Sacramento."
The $2.6 million study responsible for uncovering this elusive answer was funded by four foundations and led by Stanford University. O'Connell, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic legislative leaders commissioned the research and the results should be released in two to three months.
"I hope it's a benchmark," O'Connell said after his speech, from the floor of an education trade show taking place alongside the conference. "I hope it's more than a study that is placed on the shelf. I hope it drives education funding."
Education funding in California is distributed in a messy, complicated manner, with districts given different amounts of money to teach their students. On average,
$7,271 on each student during the same year. New York lavished $12,535 on each of its pupils, according to the center.
California voters support spending more money on public schools, but only if there is greater accountability over how that funding is dispensed,according to a new statewide poll released Thursday by Children Now, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization based in Oakland.
Eighty-four percent of the 1,300 voters surveyed by telephone believe public schools should have the materials and teachers needed to teach the state's academic standards, even if it means increasing education funding.
Nearly eight in 10 voters surveyed said they support some type of education reform, which could include a complete restructuring of public schools or softer reforms that still would dramatically change the system.
"There's not a big divide in the electorate in terms of making major changes in education," said Ted Lempert, president of Children Now. "They are saying loud and clear that the system is unacceptable and we need major change in California."
For Lempert, the key to the polling results is the realization that voters want education reform and financial accountability. They are saying, "Let's do both. Let's do them together. Let's get them done," he said.
Contact Grace Rauh at grauh@angnewspapers.com or 208-6488.
